Doctors volunteer medical care to needy

Codi Dantu, seated, talks to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Erik Stark before he performs free knee surgery on her as part of Project Access, a program of the San Diego County Medical Society Foundation.
— San Diego County Medical Society Foundation

Codi Dantu, seated, talks to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Erik Stark before he performs free knee surgery on her as part of Project Access, a program of the San Diego County Medical Society Foundation.
/ San Diego County Medical Society Foundation

Started by the San Diego County Medical Society Foundation in December 2008, the program recruits physicians and other providers to perform free surgeries and specialty care for low-income, uninsured people who can’t pay for the services.

More than 1,800 people have received that free care in the last four years. Several times a year, the program holds Saturday Surgery Days in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and the Carlsbad Surgery Center.

Last March, Coleman underwent a hernia operation at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, where more than 30 free surgeries were done in one day.

“They took care of me. It was awesome,” Coleman said. “They’re saints. If they didn’t volunteer to do this, there’d be a lot of people out there still hurting.”

Coleman, 58, has been a doorman at Coronado Shores condominiums for three years but hasn’t been able to get full-time hours, which would qualify him for health insurance. The hernia caused him pain for more than a year, but he figured he would just have to live with it.

Then his doctor at Imperial Beach Health Center told him about Project Access.

“My theory is, don’t go under the knife unless you need to,” Coleman said. “But the doctor said if my stomach popped through (the abdominal wall) then I’d have a problem and end up in the ER. And I would have to live with trying to pay that bill.”

Dantu was one of 11 patients who had free surgeries at the Carlsbad Surgery Center on Oct. 22.

An honor student at Miramar College, the 19-year-old had knee surgery to repair ligament and cartilage damage first suffered on the soccer field when she was a high school senior. She took a year off from her beloved sport, only to reinjure her wobbly knee last summer.

The surgery now done, Dantu still needs physical therapy, which volunteers will provide through Project Access.

“This was a blessing for my family,” Dantu said. “With the economy the way it is, my parents haven’t been able to afford insurance. To be honest, I don’t think I would have been able to get this surgery otherwise.”

Dantu’s surgery was performed by Dr. Erik Stark, an orthopedic surgeon at Orthopaedic Specialists of North County. Although it was his first time volunteering with Project Access, Stark said he’s always believed in donating his services. That’s why he’s team doctor for the Oceanside High School football team.